Through the Eyes of a Hawke
by NesSelene
Summary: Ava Hawke is a young female mage who has to flee Lothering to escape the blight. Follow her story which starts by the confrontation of Loghain's troops and the Wardens and their companions.
1. Chapter 1

_Time to start a new story for DA2. I hope you will like it and I'm looking forward to your reviews about it. Ava Hawke is a young female mage who has to flee Lothering to escape the blight. Follow her story which starts by the confrontation of Loghain's troops and the Wardens and their companions._

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Mother was nervous. I could tell. She was pacing back and forth, or doing things to keep herself busy. She would check on both Bethany and me to see what we were doing and even trying to get us to help her with her tasks. Not that we never helped out, but this time it was different. Her mind was wondering off in the middle of her sentences. It had been like this for weeks, ever since Carver left to Ostagar. She was so worried for him and tried to stop him from going entirely. We did not receive word from Carver yet and this was exactly what Mother was afraid of. The thought of losing her children would kill her.

Today was not different. She called Bethany and me inside to help her make dinner. While Bethany moved to prepare the food that was available, I started to check if there was anything else we would need. Our stock was running quite low so I collected my purse to do some shopping. I barely had it in my hands when Mother stopped me. Her eyes were filled with worry and I knew exactly the reason why she stopped me. I am a mage and she felt like I should be hiding instead of going out to refill the stock. Usually Carver would take this task upon him, but I took care of it since he left. Mother tried to stop me from going out several times a week and even though I usually calmed her by reassuring I would be careful.

"Ava, you know well enough that there are Templars outside. They will force you to the Circle if you get caught." I looked at her and softly sighed.

"Mother, I'm not exactly dressed as a mage. I've got no robes, just light armor. Don't worry I'll be fine. I'll come back as soon as I can, I promise." I softly said. She held my shoulders with both hands while staring back at me. Finally she nodded and let me go. As she walked towards Bethany I saw my sister looking up. Without words she said I should be carefull. I nodded to her and left the house. I loved being outside. The fresh air did me well and I enjoyed the sight of people walking all over the place. It wasn't as if Lothering was a wealthy town, but people were content enough. Lately things were tensing up in the town as well. Relatives of the families who live in Lothering were also worried for those who went to Ostagar.

I decided to stop by the local bar first. When I stepped inside I could see a small group of an army of some sort standing in the middle of the room, talking to a red-headed Sister. I stepped closer and I was now standing near the fire. It was nice and warm and now I could hear what those men were bothering the Sister about. They were demanding to know where the Grey Wardens were. Obviously they thought she was hiding them. The Sister insisted she did not know what they were talking about and I could hear the front man talk in a more dangerous manner. I turned around and saw he was practically on the Sister, but she did not move. I couldn't let anyone talk to a Sister like that! Despite my promise to Mother to be careful I walked up next to the Sister.

"Is something wrong?" I asked while I crossed my arms. The guard shot a look at me and nearly bursted out in laughter. I did not move from my spot. The Sister put a hand on my arm.

"Do not worry young lady. He has the answer he requested, it's just not the one he's looking for." I looked at the Sister and saw she was not at all afraid of him. She couldn't be just a Sister? I nodded.

"That doesn't make it right to make threats to a Sister." I said. The man's eyes were flaming with anger as he roughly took my wrist. I had to control my instincts to defend myself with magic, but I managed. I looked him straight in the eyes. I tried to remove my wrist from his hands, but instead he squized even harder. It hurt, but I tried not to let it show. At that very moment a group of people came in. They were all dressed in armor as well and they were heading straight to the group of men of which their leader held my wrist. Without releasing me he cast a look at the group. His guard spoke up, saying that this was the man they were looking for. The coincidence surprised me and I shot a look to the group as well. The man who leaded their small group was quite handsome. He had bright blue eyes and dark hair. Behind him was a woman who was scarcely dressed. Somehow it suited her and she didn't seem like the type one would want to run into or get into an arguement with. Clearly she was an apostate and she did not attempted to hide it. Next to her was another man, with strawberry blonde hair. His eyes were amber colored and shining bright. Had this been another situation I would definately attempted my chances on him. The thought made me smile and caught the attention of the man who was still holding me.

"What are you smiling about, bitch!" I closed my eyes to control my anger and my magic and the Sister spoke up.

"Let's not fight shall we? Let go of the young lady. I am sure we can talk about this." she calmly said. The man laughed and so did his guards.

"Talk? Not at all, this people must surrender themselves. They are Grey Wardens who betrayed King Cailen!" My eyes widened at this remark. Grey Wardens? Here in Lothering? This could only mean one thing. The battle in Ostagar was lost. The words of them betraying King Cailen did not sound true to me so far. Most of my thoughts went to Carver. If there were Wardens here, this could mean that Carver had fallen. The groups got into a discussion and suddenly the man, who was still holding my wrist, dragged me right in front of him. This would definately turn out in a battle. I shot a look at the men behind me and a look at the group which contained the Wardens. I sighed and decided I had no other choice. In order to get out of here relatively unharmed I had to do this. My other hand was not bound and I focussed my magic on it while looking at the group in front of me. The second I used my magic I saw the strawberry blonde man raising his defenses. _Maker, well done Ava! Using magic in front of someone who could be a emplar!_ Deciding it was too late to pull back anyhow, I formed a firebolt in my right hand. I felt it growing bigger and bigger and I suddenly casted it behind me, hoping it would land on the group behind me. The man who was holding me suddenly let go when he felt the fire. It ceased quickly, but I had enough time to pull myself away from his grip and ran to the other side of the room.

"You will pay for this, mage!" he yelled. _Great, make it even more obvious will you?_ He took out his sword while he instructed his guards to kill me and take the Wardens into custody. The Sister came in between and took out a set of daggers. The Wardens charged in and I decided to help them as well. I focussed on the man who held my wrist, which was still hurting a bit, and casted a Wintersgrasp on him. He froze up and the apostate who was with the Wardens made quick work of him. When he was defrosted by her spells, he yielded. I stepped forward next to the dark haired Warden.

"If I were you I would now beg for my life or a chance to run away from this place." I said with a mocking tone. He looked up at me and I could still see his anger. He didn't do anything now though, instead he focussed on the Warden who agreed on my suggestion. He was given a message for Loghain and before I could blink with my eyes the whole group left. I walked after them and stopped in the door post. They were indeed leaving the city as quickly as they could. I chuckled and turned around. The dark haired Warden was talking to the Sister. I could hear she was convincing him and the apostate to join them. I barely noticed the strawberry blonde man looking at me. When my eyes caught his gaze he walked towards me. I instinctively walked back until I hit the wall. I started letting my magic flow to defend myself if he would do anything. Again, he noticed and held up his hands.

"Wow wow calm down. I won't hurt you. I just want to talk." he said with a grin. I stopped and crossed my arms. He noticed this and walked a bit closer. I looked past him and noticed the apostate making unhappy sounds to the dark haired Warden. The Sister was still trying to convince them and her happy looks confirmed she managed. I looked at the strawberry blonde man next to me.

"Are you a Grey Warden too?" I asked. He nodded. "Has..." I was afraid to ask this. Afraid to get my fears confirmed. Afraid for what happened to Carver. "Did anyone else made it out of Ostagar?" I continued. The man changed completely. From the cheery happy man he seemed to be he turned into a sad and hurt person. He tried to confirm with words, but all he could do was shake his head. I could feel my tears burning in my eyes, but I refused to let them go. _Oh Brother! _My eyes were stuck on the floor when the dark-haired Warden walked up next to the strawberry blonde Warden. He wanted to leave and the Sister had suddenly changed into armor instead of keeping her robes. The apostate and Sister walked outside and I could see the Sister pet a dog. Probably one they had taken with them. He reminded me a bit of my own Mabari as well. Someone cleared his throat and I noticed the dark-haired Warden had been talking to me.

"Oh sorry. I was distracted." I said. I felt a blush coming up and I hated my cheeks for doing that! The two Wardens laughed softly.

"No matter. You have my thanks for helping out. My name is Aedan and my fellow Warden here is Alistair." he said as he motioned to the strawberry blonde man. I stared at Alistair and gave a small smile.

"My name is Ava Hawke. You are very welcome. Those men deserved every bit of it." Aedan left after nodding in agreement and saying his goodbyes and Alistair followed after him. I couldn't help but check if I was right, so I quickly walked after Alistair.

"Warden Alistair! May I ask you something? I won't take much of your time, I promise." I said. The man stopped and quietly turned around. He nodded and I moved closer to him.

"I... have to know. Are you a templar? I mean you obviously noticed my use of magic the moment I started actually using it and..." I spoke faster and faster until Alistair stopped me.

"Calm down." he said with a smile. "I hadn't taken any vows yet, but I did train to be a templar and I do have their abilities yes. I understand what you're trying to say. You needn't worry about your secret. It's safe with me. It was a pleasure to meet you, Ava Hawke." With this he turned around and caught up with his companions. I stood there for another minute, knowing I had to trust on his word. Next thing I knew I was running towards the house again. I had to warn Bethany and Mother what happened at Ostagar. It was starting to get dark so I had to hurry. When I arrived a candle was already lit. I knew I was in trouble for taking so long and I haven't even got the food I promised to get. When I rushed inside Mother looked shocked and relieved at the same time. She started to lecture me about taking so long and wanted to know exactly why I had taken so long. Bethany decided to join the lecture and asked me where the food was. The words did not get registered completely and I just stared at them. Bethany suddenly saw my wrist and gently took it. Wondering who had caused the bruising she examined it. I ignored that part and told them about the Wardens in Lothering. I told them about Ostagar and finally I told them what the Warden told me. Mother refused to take my word on it and walked to the fire. She started to poke in it and kept on saying that Carver would come home. He would be fine. We just had to wait.

I sighed and sat down for dinner. We just had to wait.


	2. Farewell Lothering

It was pitch black outside and I couldn't help looking out the window. Hoping for a sign Carver would be alive. Mother would not leave Lothering without him, I knew. I also knew that we had to act fast if we wanted to get out alive. I shook my head. Something had to be done. If Carver would not come home by early tomorrow morning I would drag Mother out. While making my plan in my mind I drifted off to the fade. Noises made me stirr around and slowly realization drifted in. It sounded like a man. It sounded like... Carver. Carver? My eyes shot open and I carefully listened to confirm my thoughts.

Yes it was him! I quickly dressed myself and ran to the living room where he was. Mother was already, or still, awake and Bethany was hugging Carver. When he saw me there was little happiness on his face. He had been running. His face was covered in sweat and his clothes were covered in blood. I shot him a small smile and nodded. It was good to have him back, but now it was time to run for our lives. Carver did not hesitate to share the news that Darkspawn had indeed won the battle. The Grey Wardens were telling the truth! Everyone had died out there, including King Cailen!

I looked out the window. There was no sign of Darkspawn yet. The sun was rising so we could leave now. We had to leave now. I faced Mother and my siblings and told them to collect only what would be necessary. Bethany immediately ran to the bedroom and Mother nodded in agreement. Carver walked up next to me. He looked so defeated. I put my hand on his arm.

"How are you holding up, Brother?" Carver sighed. His head fell and his eyes dropped to the floor. A second later he looked at me.

"It was a horrible sight, Sister. Now we have to get out of here, save Mother and Bethany, before we can think about anything else." I agreed with Carver. Softly I told him to gather the things he would need himself. While my family was busy, I kept an eye on our surroundings. The idea Darkspawn could stand on our doorstep was strange and made me feel slightly uncomfortable. My whole life we had to run from Templars. My whole life I had to pretend like I was a regular young lady with no magic at all. I was used to the running, but not from these discusting things. A kind I had never seen in my life before. I shuddered at the thought and focussed on my family instead.

Everybody seemed to be ready now and after Bethany and I took our staves, we moved out of the house. I leaded the way, but every time I looked back to see if they were catching up all right I noticed Mother looking back towards our house. The surroundings had been infected by the blight already and I couldn't believe everything would be consumed so fast. It would be a matter of time before our house was also consumed by the blight. I took pity on the people who decided to stay and try to defend themselves. Lost in thoughts and busy with leading the way away from Lothering, I didn't notice we were followed. I stood still and Carver pushed me to continue. When I yelled to Carver to stop I noticed black spots in the distance. It came closer and it moved our way. I slowly backed up, not trusting what came towards us, and soon I noticed it was Darkspawn. My eyes widened and I felt the adrenaline flowing through my veins. I pushed my family to run faster and faster. Mother did the best she could, but she was not able to keep up with Bethany and Carver. I made sure nothing could get Mother from behind so I ran behind her. Just to see she would be as safe as possible.

The Darkspawn were now so close they could touch us. Suddenly Bethany stood still and casted a firebolt to the Darkspawn. It hit them and a few fell. The rest was caught behind a barrier of fire, caused by the fireball. One Darkspawn managed to get through in time, which met its end at the tip of my staff. The top of my staff was equiped with a small gem while the rest consisted of strong wood. The bottom had a sharp blade of a dagger attached to it so I could also fight my enemies in melee range. When the dead blighted body dropped in front of my feet, Carver took my arm to take me to Mother and Bethany. They were waiting for us and Mother looked tired from all the running. When we arrived Bethany looked mad while Mother looked desperate.

"I can't believe it. Everything your Father and I built... is gone." Mother said this more to herself than to us. Bethany shook her head.

"Why didn't we run sooner!" She said while she casted her look to Carver. She was mad that they were in this danger now.

"Why are you looking at me! I've been running since Ostagar!" Carver fiercely responded back. This was going nowhere. How could they argue while there was still Darkspawn behind us, waiting to slaughter every single one of us.

"This is not the time! We have to move out of here!" I said while I stared into the distance. There was only one way we could go and that was forward. Mother and Bethany stayed silent while Carver told me to lead the way. So we moved further. It seemed like Darkspawn had taken everything here in a matter of minutes. We were surrounded and could only fight our way through. Bethany her wall of fire stopped while in front of us a small group ran our way. Their swords were raised and looked determined. I steeled myself for battle. It was now or never. I had to get everyone out of here safely. While Carver had already rushed towards the small pack of Darkspawn in front of us, Bethany made sure those behind us wouldn't touch mother. I casted a firebolt to the group behind us and quickly moved to help out Carver. He handled the group well on his own and with the occasional Wintersgrasp they were dead fast.

When we continued running forward Bethany called out to stop. I felt myself getting annoyed. The Darkspawn weren't going to wait for us to finally get going. They were too eager to kill all on sight. I stopped and turned around with a frown. Bethany caught my look and quickly looked down for a second.

"Where are we going?" she said as he looked back to us again. "We can't just wander, aimlessly." I lifted up my shoulders.

"We can try and see how far we can get with that." I said with a grin. This only deserved a nasty glare back. Suddenly Mothers head shot up. I could tell by the way she looked that she had an idea.

"We could go to Kirkwall!" she said, proud of finally having a place to go.

"Kirkwall?" I whispered. "Are you sure?" I said while I lifted a brow, partly in disbelief Mother would send her mage daughters to Kirkwall of all places. Bethany seemed to be on the same page on this one.

"There are a lot of Templars in Kirkwall, Mother."

"I know that, but we still have family and an estate there!" I wasn't too happy about the idea, but it seemed like we had no other choice. After we decided it was Gwaren we needed to go to first I turned around and started killing more Darkspawn who had found us. Not far ahead I could hear fighting as well. When we ran around the corner I could see a warrior woman and a templar defending themselves against Darkspawn. The templar got hit in the side hard and fell on the ground. Without thinking we ran and started helping them killing the smelling beasts. When the last one fell, the templar stood up and fiercely walked towards me and Bethany.

"Apostate!" he stated. He started murmuring something and Bethany started to giggle.

"A Templar. Here, in the midst of Lothering overrun by the blight." The woman next to the templar tried to calm him down. Instead he looked at the woman.

"The order dictates…" The woman shook her head.

"They saved us, dear. The Maker understands." He looked at Bethany and me once more and lowered his head. I could see a small nod before his head went back up again.

"My name is Aveline Vallen, and this is my husband Wesley. We can hate each other, but I suggest we work together for now." I agreed on this, but I had to make sure this templar knew what I was prepared to do for my family.

"As long as you know I stand with Bethany, Templar." I said while pointing to him.

"I'm sure we will both keep an eye on each other." He simply replied. We discussed which direction we should go and I quickly decided we could only go one way. There was more Darkspawn on our path and we soon reached an open area. I held everyone back as it was completely empty. There were three points to go to. Right, middle and left. Slowly we moved further into the open area when the ground started shaking lightly. The sound was as if something really heavy was running towards us. I looked around and didn't see anyone near. Carver was standing next to me while mother and Bethany stayed behind for us to declare it safe. Aveline and Wesley were not far from Carver and me, ready to go into battle when needed.

Suddenly I saw a large ogre coming from the far left side. I realized they were too close to mother and Bethany. My sister tried to shield mother from anything the ogre would do. I heard her whispers and I didn't know what she said. When this processed into my mind, she started to run. I quickly knew she was preparing herself to attack the ogre. I tried to run to her, but the ogre had already taken her in his large hands. She screamed and I tried to cast a wintersgrasp as soon as possible, hoping it would freeze the ogre completely so Bethany could escape.

Everything turned out the other way around. My wintersgrasp barely hurt the ogre and he smashed Bethany against the ground. Carver, Aveline and Wesley were already on their way to kill the ogre and while he still had my sister in his hands I could tell by her lifeless form that she was gone. Tears started building up in my eyes, but I pushed them aside. This ogre would die no matter what. I casted out more spells and with everyone fighting the ogre it died. More Darkspawn swarmed around us, but they were no match.

Mother was already sitting at Bethany's side, trying to wake her with words. Her tears fell freely and I couldn't stop the guilt washing over me. I sat down across mother so Bethany was in between us. Carver stood near mother and I looked at my sister. I closed my eyes and silently started praying. Why couldn't I save my own sister from a bloody ogre? Aveline and Wesley walked towards us as well and the strong warrior woman told my mother that Bethany was dead.

Mother did not want to hear that at first, but when it finally sunk in I was her target. She blamed me. I looked up at my own mother and saw her eyes. Why would she say that? Doesn't she know I blame myself already? The last thing I needed was hearing that from my mother. I whispered father would have company now and stood up. Wesley was praying for Bethany's soul to join the Maker while I stood up. It gave me a mixed feeling knowing he is a templar and Bethany the apostate he would hunt till death.

Aveline's shouting brought me out of my thoughts again and soon we found ourselves with more Darkspawn. She rushed in with Wesley and Carver followed them straight away. He took out his anger on the Darkspawn. The place started to overrun with the filthy beasts and I started to wonder if we would ever make it out alive. Out of nowhere we heard a loud deafening roar which caused everyone, including the Darkspawn, to stop and look where it came from.

Behind us on the rocks was a giant dragon. My eyes widened as soon as I saw it and I kept following it as it started to fly towards us. Sparks of fire were coming out of its mouth and it spew flames on the Darkspawn in front of us. It was so near I could feel the heat as I saw the Darkspawn drop dead after running around with a coat of flames. With its large paws it lifted a few Darkspawn only to let them fall. This went on a couple of times before the dragon landed in front of us. It softly roared as if it was a little out of breath and turned itself around to face us. I held my staff even tighter as I took a step towards it. I had to defend my family, especially after I let Bethany run off to that ogre.

I frowned as it took a few steps towards me and was blinded by the light that came from the dragon. It fully consumed it and I had to squeeze my eyes for them not to hurt too much. Soon I could see a dark human form in the light.


End file.
